TheExpatJournals.com

Comment: You should start a Panama branch of Zagat’s dining out guide. What a good review of food and restaurants. I’m a former New Yorker - born upper East Side, lived on Christopher street until moving to New England.

Question: What NYC neighborhood might Casco Viejo compare to in terms of safety (if a comparison can be made)?

Nah…can’t compare. When people speak of danger here, it’s usually petty theft and not violent. You don’t get beat up or stabbed if they want your bag, they just cut it and run. And I don’t think I’m apparently the normal barometer as I don’t feel fear here. I never did in NYC either. And when I moved there, it was pretty bad. I didn’t walk in Central Park at night and I exercise the same caution here. One thing I trust is my gut and somehow, to me, you can feel what an area is like. And perhaps NYC gives you exercise in honing that sense as you always (used to) pay attention to where you were and who is around you. Whereas in smaller towns, you just walk without bothering to think about it.

In any event, Chorillo, a neighboring area is the dangerous area. Not Casco Viejo. Remember when one block could be great and the next block dangerous? Well this is more like saying, it’s safe in the Village, but the lower East Village is dangerous.

And thank you on the food stuff. I haven’t read it…don’t usually read what I write, just spew…thus typos, etc. But I do think I forgot to say “DO NOT BOTHER with Restaurant Marbella on Avenida Balboa. Definitely overpriced and horrendous the one time I tried it. I had returned whatever my first dish was, gave up on fish and decided to play it safe and get fried chicken. Juices ran pink…it was raw in the middle. For something like $10.

Just got back from a weekend in Portobelo with friends. AMAZING! Might have been my favorite weekend in Panama so far. More about that later. One friend who joined us on Saturday works for El Rey. He brought two frozen entrees for dinner Saturday night. One was literally the most delicious ‘chicken pot pie’ I’ve ever had in my life!! The other was decent, baked gnocci with chicken. The chicken pot pie was by a woman here…and I will butcher this name, but something like BetzaBe. It was called something like Pie de Pollo Indio Chino. Light curry, flaky fantastic crust…so good it was worth the price of admission for this wheat intolerant. I cannot rave enough!! El Rey. Frozen food. Apparently, two brands of prepared frozen meals made locally by women in Panama. How many ways can I say WOW!